THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINIANA 

ENDOWED  BY 

JOHN  SPRUNT  HILL 

CLASS  OF  1889 


G378 

UK3 

I838M 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 

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DELIVERBD    BEFORK    THE 

ALOHVI  A:\^D  the  SE.^IOR  Cf.Af§S, 


flMVERSTTY  OF  NORTH  CAROIJNA  : 

I2T  O-SP.AP.D  HALL: 

ON  TRK  DAY  PRECEDING  THE 
r.NDER  THE  APPOINTMENT  OF  THE 

2>  12  i^.  2£>  12  ^  ^  S  ^  ^<£>^E2St?^a 
By  CHARLES  MANLY,  EsauiRE. 


PUBLISHED    BY    ORDER    OF    SAID    SOCIETY.  -f' 


RALEIGH,  x\.  C. 

Printed  by  T.  Loring,  at  tho  Office  of  the  North  Carolina  Standard. 

1838.  .     '  ■ 


••        <« 


.-t     ' 


r-    ' 


Unlvcrsihj  of  North  Carolina. 

Dear  Sir: 

An  agreement  has  been  lately  entered  into  by  the  two 
Societies,  for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  member  annually,  and  al- 
ternately from  each  body,  to  deliver  an  address  before  the  Senior 
Class  and  the  Alumni  of  the  University,  on  Wednesday  after- 
noon preceding  Commencement.  As  president  of  the  Dialectic 
Society,  I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  you  have  been 
chosen  to  deliver  the  address,  alluded  to  above.  This  being  a 
new,  and,  we  think,  an  important  addition  to  the  exercises  of  the 
Commencement,  we  feel  very  anxious  that  it  should  succeed. — 
Permit  me,  therefore,  individually  and  in  behalf  of  the  Society, 
to  beg  that  you  will  give  it  the  sanction  of  your  name,  and  re- 
commend it,  by  your  acceptance,  to  those  who  may  he  hereafter 
selected;  for  we  feel  assured  that  the  Society  could  not  have  se- 
lected an  individual,  more  able  to  give  to  the  exercise  dignity  and 
importance,  and  place  it  on  a  level  with  the  oration  delivered  bo- 
fore  the  two  Societies,  on  Wednesday  morning. 

You  will  please  to  let  me  hear  from  you  as  soon  as  you  cau 
with  convenience. 
'V-    ■  '     /      •     I  am,  sir,  yonr  ob't  servant, 

CHARLES  J.  CRADDOCK.       " 

To  Ch.\rle3  Manly,  "Esq. 


^ 


•  '        ••  Chapel  Hill,  2&lh  June,  ISoS. 

Dear  Sir: 

Wc  tender  to  you  the  ilianks  of  the  Dialectic  Society,  for 
the  excellent  address  delivered  by  you  on  the  27th  inst.,  to  the 
Senior  Class  and  Alumni  of  the  University,  and  respectfully  re- 
quest of  you  a  copy  for  publication. 

Yours,  with  the  hiijhest  respect, 

JOHN  N.  BARKSDALE, 
P.  E.  BRADLEY, 
W.  F.  BROWN. 
To  Char).ks  MadlV,  Esq'r. 


Raleigh,  \st  July,  1838.    ■ 
Young  Gentlemen:  '    • 

I  yield  my  assent  to  the  publication  of  the  desultory  ad- 
dress delivered  by  me,  during  the  last  Commencement  exercises 
— not  from  a  consciousness  of  its  possessing  any  intrinsic  merit, 
or  of  its  deserving  a  place  in  your  archives — but  in  obedience  to 
custom,  and  from  a  desire  to  gratify  the  wishes  of  the  Society 
you  represent,  whose  request  you  have  so  politely  communicated. 
With  sentiments  of  the  highest 

respect,  I  am,  gentlemen, 

Your  ob't  serv't, 

CHAS.  MANLY. 
To  Messrs.  J.  N.  Barksdale,  ) 

P.  E.  Bradley,      >  Committee. 
W.  F.  Brown.      \ 


IlelUcred  ill  Gerard  Hall,  ISilS. 


Gentlemen  Alumni  of  the  University: — 

The  pious  Pilgrim  who  wanders  many 
thousand  miles  to  visit  the  Holy  Land,  feels,  as  he  treads 
the  liallowed  ground,  invigorated  and  refreshed  in  his 
Christian  warfare. 

The  voluntary  exile  from  his  oative  home,  who  ranges 
o'er  the  world  in  pursuit  of  its  happiness,  its  honors,  or 
Its  riches,  revisits  with  gladsome  lieart  the  place  where 
"Once  in  life's  gay  spring  he  used  to  roam." 

The  Alunmi  of  our  Alma  Mater,  witli  khidrcd  sym- 
pathies, have  come  hither  on  this  joyous  anniversary. — 
They  have  come  to  rekindle  at  her  altar  their  early  at- 
tachments, the  flame  of  sacred  friendship.  To  catch  fresh 
inspiration  of  that  spirit  which  once  glowed  in  their  bo- 
soms, when,  amidst  these  peaceful  retreats,  unshackled 
by  the  cares,  and  unvexed  by  the  duplicity  of  the  world, 
they  contended  in  the  noble  strife  of  generous  emulation. 

Our  Classic  Jubilee,  is  indeed,  full  of  sublime  attrac- 
tions. The  sober  alfections  of  the  aged,  the  ardent  hearts 
of  the  young,  and  the  thrice  welcome  plaudits  of  the  soft- 
er sex,  without  whose  inspiring  influence,  fancy  languish- 
es, and  genius  dies,  have  all  come  up  to  this  Temple  of 
science,  to  pay  their  homage  at  her  shrine,  and  to  reward 
with  their  presence  and  their  smiles  her  youthful  votaries. 

When  we  contemplate  the  scenes  which  surround 
us,  the  edifices  erected,  the  Professorships  established,  the 
standard  of  classical  instruction  and  of  intellectual  philo- 
sophy now  prevail hig  in  our  University,  and  revert  to  the 


6. 

rarly  j'Kjnod  of  her  hi.'itory,  our  nunds  are  tilled  witjj 
wonder  at  her  advaiiceinent.  We  have  seen  tier  strug- 
gling for  existence,  against  the  false  imputations  and  un- 
just prejudices  of  the  public,  of  her  being  a  sectarian 
Seminary,  a  nursery  for  the  sons  of  the  wealthy  alone. — 
We  have  seen  her  languishing  under  pecuniary  embar- 
rassments— her  energies  paralyzed  by  a  load  of  debt,  and 
her  rightful  guardians  and  protectors  abandoning  her  to 
swift  destruction.  And  we  have  seen  her  Trustees  nak- 
ed fiduciaries,  unmoved  by  interest,  unarmed  by  power, 
and  unclothed  with  patronage,  sustaining  her  with  un- 
flinching steadiness.  We  have  seen  them  disencumber- 
ing her  of  her  embarrassments,  animating  her  hopes,  and 
under  the  most  discouraging  circumstances,  and  with  the 
most  precarious  means,  placing  her  beyond  the  reach  of 
her  unnnatural  enemies  ;  investing  her  with  liberal  en- 
dowments, and  offering  gratuitously  the  waters  of  her 
Pierian  fountain,  to  all  who  will  come  and  drink.* 

The  genius  of  this  mighty  republic,  which  has  urg- 
ed our  country  on,  with  the  eagle's  flight  in  the  race  of 
nations,  has  likewise  kept  her  sacred  vigils  here.  We  see 
our  Alma  Mater  keeping  pace  with  the  progress  of  science 
and  literature  ;  and  from  the  humble  pretensions  of  a 
grammar  school,  elevated  and  dignified  to  the  rank  of  the 
most  distinguished  seminaries  of  the  Land. 

In  this  proud  retrospect  of  the  past,  and  these  bright 
anticipations  of  her  future  destiny,  still,  our  hearts  are 
here  filled  with  mournful  contemplations  of  the  utter  niu- 


*  By  an  Ordinance  of  the  Board  of  Trustees:  "Any  na- 
tive of  the  State,  desirous  of  prosecuting  his  studies  in  the  Uni- 
versity, who  shall  furnish  satisfactory  evidence  of  good  talents, 
studious  habits  and  exemplary  morals,  and  who  shall  be  unable 
to  defray  the  expense  of  tuition  and  room  rent,  mav  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  Faculty,  be  admitted  io  all  the  recitations  oi  the 
Classes,  free  of  any  demand  therefor."' 


7. 

fability  ol'  all  things.  We  look  around  on  this  .«;oquester- 
ed  spot,  and  recognize  the  same  venerable  otiks,  under 
whose  umbrageous  foliage  we  have  so  oft  reclined.  We 
walk  abroad  upon  the  hills  ;  revisit  our  former  haunts  and 
retrace  the  inscription  we  have  rudely  carved,  on  some 
ancient  beach,  or  listen  to  the  murmurings  of  the  same 
.stream,  along  whose  quiet  banks  we  have  so  often  stray- 
ed, and  recall  our  golden  visions  and  romantic  dreams  : 
but,  where  are  our  companions  ?  AVhere  the  wild  laugh 
that  used  to  re-echo  through  these  solitudes?  Where 
that  kind  look,  that  gentle  spirit,  that  kindred  .soul,  which 
won  our  confidence  and  love  ? 

"  Alas  I  we  miss  him  on  die  accustomed  hill,  •     ' 
>''  Along  the  heath  and  near  his  favorite  tree         "   • 

We  look  in  vain,  nor  yet  beside  the  rill 
Nor  up  the  lawn,  nor  at  the  wood  is  he." 

Here  too,  as  with  lingering  step  we  pace  these  Halls, 
we  meet,  in  imagination,  at  every  pass,  the  genius  of  this 
place.     But  'tis  fancy's  uiterview. 

Where  is  now  that  venerable  form,  that  dignified 
brow,  that  parental  voice,  that  once  pervaded  this  whole 
community?  He,  who  in  early  life  came  into  the  Insti- 
tution, nourished  her  infancy,  invigorated  her  manhood, 
and  who  adhered  to  her  with  unfaultering  tenderness  and 
fidelity,  in  the  darkest  hour  of  her  penury  and  affliction? 
Where  is  now  that  great  Apostle,  who  illuminated  the 
sacred  fires  of  science,  and  adorned  her  beauties  ? — • 
Where  the  revered  and  faithful  instructer,  whose  zealous 
and  untiring  care  it  was,  to  instil  into  our  minds  the  wis- 
dom of  this  world,  and  to  teach  us  the  way  to  Heaven? 
The  nothingness  of  this  world's  gi'eatness,  points  to  yon- 
der monument,  l)eneath  whose  Inmible  piles  his  venera- 
ted bones.repose.     Clo  there,  and  barn  from  the  djslinc- 


8. 

tive  lines,  of  the  character  of  Joseph  Caldwell  ;  to 
Ufiitate  his  energy,  his  quickness  of  decision,  his  prompti. 
tude  in  action,  his  perseverance  in  duty,  his  devoted  pa- 
triotism, and  exalted  piety. 

Thither  let  us  all  repair  and  bedew  his  ashes  with 
the  tear  of  affection.     Green  be  the  sod  and  unfading  its 
verdure,  that  rests  upon  that  consecrated  spot : 
"  Si  quid  ad  fainam  valent 
Mens  omnigenffi  doctriiiec  capax 
Variis  artibus  ingenuis  valde  ornata 
*^    Animus-que  pius,  liberalis,  benignus, 

Nee  non  vita  liceris  provehendis  confecta  % 

Et  laboribus  assiduis  in  commodura  publicum  '  •  ■ 
Mortui  baud  cito  delebitur  memoria." 
You,  into  whose  laps  the  treasures  of  knowledge 
have  been  poured,  and  who  have  gone  forth  into  the  busy- 
walks  of  life,  stand,  before  God  and  posterity,  in  a  post  of 
high  responsibility  to  your  country.  She  needs  the  aid 
of  enlightened  patriotism.     Guard  well  her  honor. 

The  loss  of  it,  is  the  sure  precursor  to  her  destruction, 
f/ook  at  the  history  of  other  republics.  Behold  the  once 
proud  fabric  of  the  Roman  empire.  Once  the  acknowl- 
edged mistress  of  the  world,  in  arts,  and  genius,  and  arms, 
Rome  is  now  an  inferior  city,  known  only  by  the  solemn 
ruins  of  its  ancient  splendor. 

Where  is  now  her  glory  ?  her  civilians,  her  philoso- 
phers, her  military  heroes  J  Departed ;  gone  forever. — 
The  intrepid  virtue  of  that  Republic,  sunk  into  the  timid 
slavishness  of  despotism.  Her  character  gone,  her  national 
pride  subdued,  vandalism  soon  desolated  her  classic  fields. 
Let  us  take  instruction  from  her  example,  and  be  wise 
without  suffering  the  ills  of  her  experience.  Extend  over 
our  people  the  shield  of  an  honorable  national  character, 
and  tlipy  will  confide  in  and  respect  the  government.— 


■    m 

Teach  them  ihat  the  ejaculation  "  I  am  an  American  cit- 
izen," covers  them  with  honor,  and  encircles  them  as  with 
panoply  throughont  the  world,  and  they  will  be  ready  to 
rnsh  to  her  rescne  and  defence  against  assaults  from  with- 
out, and  the  corruptions  of  demagogues  and  ambitious 
leaders  within.  I  charge  you,  as  you  value  your  coun- 
try's glory  and  national  existence,  strive  to  check  her 
spirit  of  avarice  and  thirst  for  plunder.  The  restless  spi- 
rit of  our  people  is  bent  alone  on  wealth.  Tlie  vast  re- 
gions of  our  unexplored  territory  invite  cupidity.  Where 
do  you  find  a  man  who  regards  himself  as  permanently 
settled  ?  How  few  do  you  see  occupying  the  homes  and 
places  of  their  fathers.  Seduced  by  this  passion,  falsely 
called  enterprizc,  you  behold,  on  all  sides,  neighborhoods 
and  families  dispersed,  the  parental  roof  abfindoned  by 
our  offspring  ere  they  arrive  at  maturity ;  men  cutting 
loose  the  tenderest  associations  ;  quitting  the  houses  they 
have  built,  the  trees  which  they  have  planted,  the  fields 
which  have  nourished  them,  and  which  contain  the  ashes 
of  their  forefathers.  These  habits  may  impart  vigor  and 
boldness  to  the  character  of  our  people,  but  they  are  not 
calculated  to  give  stability  to  public  virtue. 

When  wealth  comes  to  be  regarded  as  the  chief  good, 
and  virtuous  poverty  to  be  despised,  the  moral  sense  of  the 
community  is  infected,  and  they  soon  become  the  prey  of 
their  own  licentiousness  and  vice.  What  but  this  thirst 
for  plunder  and  contempt  of  national  character,  inipels 
our  government  in  her  Indian  policy  1  Why  are  these  poor 
houseless  savages  hunted  down  like  wild  beasts,  butcher- 
ed in  their  hammocks,  or  driven  by  the  unrighteous  arm 
of  power  from  their  home  and  their  countiy?  Com- 
pelled to  submit  to  arbitrary  stipulations,  falsely  called 
treaties,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other,  betrayed  and 


,         /       10. 

kidnapped  hy  violations  of  the  nation^sfiag.     See  their 
Osceolas,  too  proud  to  submit,  too  brave  to  be  conquered, 

'entrapped  by  the  perfidious  display  of  a  Flag  of  Truce, 
and  doomed  to  languisli  and  die  ;  not  in  chivalrous  strife, 
with  steel  to  steel,  but  the  tardy  and  ignominious  death  of 
captive  slaves.  Who  will  not  blush  when  he  dispassion- 
ately reads  this  dark  page  of  his  country's  degradation. — 
Who  would  not  see  the  lagoons  and  morasses  and  swamps 
of  the  Seminoles,  struck  from  creation's  map,  rather  tlian 
behold  the  ^^  star  spangled  banner ^^''  our  national  aegis, 
thus  tarnished  and  desecrated  ?     And  why  all  this  ?    Be- 

■  cause  the  white  man  wants  their  land.  Look  to  the 
Cherokees.  For  many  years  the  benevolent  policy  of  this 
government,  pursuing  the  suggestions  of  our  illustrious 
W^ashington,  was  employed  in  the  laudable  and  pious 
task  of  civilizing  these  savages.  Implements  of  husbandry 
and  of  the  mechanic  arts  were  furnished  them  ;  schools 
established,  and  the  blessings  of  christian  light  and  truth 
patronized  and  sent  to  them :  and  now,  amidst  the  suc- 
cessful tide  of  these  experiments,  their  institutions  are  to 
be  broken  up,  their  fields  and  altars  sacked,  the  cup  of 
civilization,  as  soon  as  tasted,  snatched  from  their  lips, 
and  they  doomed  to  lapse  again  into  hordes  of  wandering 
barbarians  : 

"  The  spirit  stirring  drum,  the  ear  piercing  fife, 
"  The  pride,  pomp  and  circumstance  of  glorious  war" 
liave  lately  burst  upon  the  astonished  head  of  our  own 
quiet  State.  Yes  :  Even  old  North  Carolina  snuffs  the 
tainted  breeze.  And  although  living  with  this  people  in 
unbroken  amity,  she,  too,  is  called  upon  by  the  General 
Government  to  pollute  her  hands  with  this  unhallowed 
work  of  robbery  and  murder.  They  have  long  lived  with- 
iti  our  borders,  imfelt  and  unseen.     Our  citizens,  east  of 


11. 

the  Allcgluuiy,  barely  knew.  uiiUl  recently,  tluil  we  even 
possessed  such  a  population. 

One  of  their  chiefs,  being  lately  asked  by  the  humane 
and  gallant  officer  of  our  army,  charged  with  the  execu- 
tion of  this  order,  whether  they  intended  to  resist  then- 
removal,  replied  :  "  We  shall  interpose  no  barrier.  We 
will  shed  not  one  drop  of  blood.  But  not  a  Cherokee  will 
go  unless  tied  and  dragged  by  cords  and  chains."  What 
a  spectacle  do  we  exhibit  to  the  civilized  world  ?  A  great 
and  powerhd  nation  ;  the  boasted  asylum  of  the  persecu- 
ted and  distressed,  the  niu'sing  mother  of  law  and  of 
equal  rights^  pourmg  out  her  treasures  and  her  armies, 
to  expatriate  this  poor  remnant  of  the  children  of  the  forest. 
And  for  what  ?  Bex^ause  we  want  their  land. 
Well  may  they  swear  eternal  vengeance  ;  and  even 
the  stones  of  their  deserted  wigwams  rise  and  mutiny. — 
'Tis  a  national  sui  ;  a  stain  upon  our  country's  honor. 

The  Almighty  possesses  no  attribute  that  can  take  part 
with  us  in  such  a  controversy  ;  the  Great  Spirit,  without 
whose  knowledge  not  a  sparrow  falls  to  the  ground,  and 
who  feeds  the  hungry  ravens  when  they  cry,  will,  it  is  to 
be  feared,  avenge  the  wrongs  of  these  oppressed  people,  and 
sooner  or  later,  hurl  his  heaviest  thunderbolts 
"******     Against 
"  The  deep  damnation  of  their  taking  off — " 
I  make  no  allusion  here  to  party  politics.     These 
remarks  cannot  be  legitimately  applied  to  either  of  the 
great  political  parties  of  this  nation.     They  are  not  divi- 
ded by  this  question. 

'  ■.■,   Stand  forth,  then,  my  friends,  and  rebuke  this  spirit 
of  avarice  and  rapine. 

Strive  to  preserve  our  national  character  ;  to  fill  our 
councils  with  enhghtened  patriotism,  and  our  public  offi- 
ces with  <yentlemcn.       .  ■        .    •    .    .  ■ 


13. 

Despise  the  demagogue,  whether  he  call  himself 
democrat  or  federalist,  whig  or  tory,  conservative  or  loco 
foco.  Let  talent  and  virtue,  and  merit,  be  the  passport  to 
power  and  place  and  not  boisterous  huzzahs,  in  praise 
of  some  successful  party  Chief 

Know  that  freedom  is  bliss,  and  that  honor  is  strength. 
"  What  constitutes  a  State  ? 
"  Not  higli  raised  battlement  or  labored  mound, 
''  Thick  wall  or  moated  gate, 

"Not  cities  proud  "with  spires  of  beauty  crowned} 
"  Not  bays  and  broad  armed  ports 
"  Where  laughing  at  the  storm,  rich  navies  ride  ; 
"  Nor  starred  and  spangled  courts, 
"Where  low-browed  baseness  wafts  perfume  to  pride. 
"  No — men — high  minded  men, 

"  These  constitute  a  State."        '  .•    .-i.  •  • 


Young  Gentlemen  of  the  Philanthropic  and  Di- 
alectic iSociETiEs: 

Were  I  a  candidate  for  literary  fame,  seeking  to  se- 
cure a  niche  in  her  fair  temple,  1  should  have  denied  my- 
self the  honor  of  this  Address.  -  ^ 

Having  entered  at  an  early  age,  upon  the  busy  and 
varied  employments  of  an  active  life  ;  accustomed  to  the 
impromptu  suggestions  of  the  moment,  without  regard  to 
the  elegance  of  classic  diction  or  set  forms  of  speech,  and 
having  received  a  very  short  notice  of  your  demand  up- 
on me,  duty  and  self-respect,  would  have  compelled  me 
to  have  retired  from  the  task  of  appearing  before  this  dig- 
nified and  enlightened  assembly.  Regarding,  however, 
the  important  relation  which  your  Societies  bear  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  college,  and  as  an  humble  member  of 
tlie  Board  of  Trustees,  desirous  of  sustaining  your  regu- 


13. 

latioiis;  and  fearing  the  want  of  time  for  prcpuralion, 
might  in  hke  manner  deter  others,  and  yoin-  wishes  be 
thus  entirely  frustrated,  I  determined  at  once  to  accept 
your  invitation.  I  was  impelled  to  this  decision  by  a- 
nother  reflection.  From  a  long  and  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  cliaracter  of  the  young  men  of  this  col- 
lege, I  felt  a  consciousness  that  the  humblest  production 
would  be  sustained,  when  ofl:ered  in  obedience  to  your 
call ;  and  that  I  should  find  in  your  sympathetic  and  in- 
genuous bosoms,  a  generous  glow  of  satisfaction,  even 
with  the  imperfections  and  poverty  of  the  eftbrt. 

Tlie  history  of  the  Institutions  under  whose  auspi- 
ces we  are  now  dissembled,  is  replete  with  lessons  of  prac- 
tical wisdom. 

In  the  year  1795  a  voluntary  association  of  the 
young  men  of  the  college  was  formed,  under  the  name 
and  style  of  the  Dialectic  Society,  for  the  cultivation  of 
science  and  the  social  virtues  ;  laws  ordained  ;  a  govern- 
ment in  miniature  established.  In  the  year  1798,  some  of 
the  members  of  this  Society,  not  in  a  spirit  of  restless  op- 
position and  rebellion,  but  with  the  laudable  motive  of 
stimulating  virtuous  ambition  in  scholastic  attainments, 
at  the  suofjrestion  of  the  late  venerable  President  Cald- 
WELL,  then  professor  of  mathematics,  peaceably  with- 
drew, and  established  the  Philanthropic  Society. 

For  nearly  half  a  centiny,  these  Institutions  have 
pursued  the  even  tenor  of  their  way,  having  no  otiier 
guarantee  for  their  existence,  than  their  own  intrinsic  ex- 
cellence. 

Claiming  no  perpetuity  from  chartered  rights,  un- 
protected by  the  laws,  they  have  lived  and  flourished  in 
the  unsophisticated  virtue  of  their  members. 

While  the  thousand  associations  of  the  day,  havedi^- 


14. 

solved  and  pjisscd  off  with  the  ephenierul  ebullitions  that 
gave  them  birth  ;  while  within  the  period  of  your  exist-. 
ence,  republics,  kingdoms,  and  empires  have  arisen,  and 
in  the  mighty  mutations  of  human  affairs,  are  now  known 
only  as  things  that  have  been — your  Societies  stand  as 
a  great  beacon  lights  teaching  by  that  living  motto,  em- 
blazoned on  their  escutcheons,  that  human  Institutions 
can  only  be  stable,  when  fixed  upon  the  immutable  basis 
of  virtue.  Amid  the  revolutions  that  distract  the  world, 
let  the  spirit  of  laction  and  of  mad  ambition,  stand  re- 
buked at  the  majestic  example  of  your  constancy  and  love 
of  order.  Let  the  genius  of  emulation,  as  she  wends  her 
toilsome  way  up  the  the  rugged  steeps  of  fame,  take  fresh 
energy  and  courage,  at  the  contemplation  of  the  high 
achievements  secured  by  steady  perseverance. 

Little  did  the  framers  of  your  constitutions  suppose, 
when  they  were  penning  those  instruments,  that  they 
were  giving  to  the  deeds  the  impress  of  immortality,  and 
registering  their  names  for  posterity,  high  as  the  founders 
of  a  race  :  little  did  they  think,  that  the  few  old  school 
books  and  cheap  novels,  and  odd  volumes  of  history, 
which,  first  were  cast  into  common  stock,  and  which,  e- 
ven  within  my  rememberance,  were  kept  in  a  few  old 
trunks,  was  the  nucleus,  around  which  would  arise  those 
ma^ificent  collections.  Libraries,  which  regarded  for 
the  costliness  of  their  materials,  for  the  range  and  taste 
and  variety  of  their  selection,  or  the  splendid  drapery  of 
their  exterior,  need  not  blush  at  a  comparison  with  any  in 
our  country.  Read  in  the  sympathetic  countenances  of 
many  here,  the  feelings  of  exultation,  with  which  their  bo- 
soms glow,  when,  after  a  long  absence  they  come  back  to 
your  halls,  and  witness  your  advancement.  Long  may. 
your  Societies  flourish,  the  nursery  of  science  and  know- 


» 


15. 

.  ledge,  and  of  the  kind  affections  and  sympathies  of  life  ; 
the  patrons  of  social  order  and  decornm  ;  the  cradle  of 
high-souled  honor ;  the  scourge  of  indolence  ;  the  bane 
of  seltishness,  and  meanness. 

Your  Societies,  young  Gentlemen,  are  identified  with 
this  University.  They  have  become  great  arteries  in  the 
system,  indispensable  to  its  vitality.  Without  your  active 
co-operation,  the  laws  of  the  college  are  impotent,  and 
nugatory.  The  dread  of  your  displeasure  carries  more 
terror  than  all  the  majesty  of  the  laws  and  the  authority 
of  the  Faculty  and  Trustees  combined  ;  you  are  emphat- 
ically an  ^^imperiwn  im  «//;.y?erio;"  "a  po\i^ei'  behind  the 
throne  greater  than  the  throne  itself."  There  is  not  an 
individual  in  this  assembly,  acquainted  with  this  place, 
who  does  not  know  that  what  I  say  is  true.  Occupying 
then,  as  you  do,  this  high  ground ;  in  the  name  of  the 
Trustees  and  Faculty  of  the  University,  I  invoke  your 
powerful  aid,  in  sustaining  its  discipline,  in  encouraging 
industry  and  good  manners,  and  in  suppressing  vice. 

','   Gentlemen  of  the  Senior  Class: 

The  present  is  the  most  interesting  period  of 
your  lives.  You  are  about  to  separate  from  each  other, 
after  a  close  union  of  four  years,  to  mingle  in  the  wide 
world  before  you,  and  to  leave  forever  those  Academic  re- 
treats, which  must  be  consecrated  by  so  many  affecting  re- 
collections. 

Standing  on  the  threshold  of  manhood,  ready  to 
launch  forth  on  the  ocean  of  life,  and  fondly  dreaming 
each  wind  and  star  your  friend,  it  is  fit  that  you  should 
pause,  and  arm  yourselves  against  her  tempestuous  bil- 
lows, and  the  seductive  serenity  of  her  surface  ; — to  pro- 
vide yourselves  with  charts  for  this  perilous  voyage,  and 


^       10. 

to  keop  an  eye  steadfast  on  those  great  lights,  sot  up  to 
conduct  and  save  the  mariner  from  her  shoals  and  whirl- 
pools. 

At  such  a  crisis,  when  you  are  about  to  cast  away 
the  pillars  on  which  your  dependant  lives  have  leaned, 
and  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  your  own  destiny,  I 
will  not  flatter  you  by  the  vain  illusion  that  the  eyes  of 
the  world  are  upon  you  and  rejoicing  to  see  you 
"  Climb 

The  steep  where  Fame's  proud  temple  shines  afar." 
Nor  will  I  damp  the  ardor  of  your  course,  by  pour- 
traying  the  world  as  full  of  fraud  and  treachery,  by  teach- 
ing you  that  friendship  is  but  an  empty  name,  and  besetting 
your  path  with  the  apprehension  of  assassins.  It  is  not 
my  purpose  to  invite  your  attention  to  any  theme  drawn 
from  the  depths  of  abstraction,  demanding  for  its  illustra- 
tion the  resources  of  learning,  or  for  its  embellishment, 
the  inspiration  of  poetry.  But  surrounded  as  you  are, 
on  the  one  hand,  by  friends,  who.  full  of  anxiety,  are  con- 
gratulating you  on  your  entrance  upon  this  great  theatre, 
and  on  the  other,  by  associates,  who,  with  heavy  hearts 
are  bidding  you  an  affectionate  adieu  ;  suffer  me  to  avail 
myself  of  the  tender  sensibility  which  such  a  moment  a-' 
wakens,  to  impress  upon  your  hearts  the  value  of  filial 
PIETY.  To  you,  the  topic  may  be  trite  and  common.— 
To  your  assiduity  in  your  studies,  submission  to  author!-' 
ty,  and  gentlemanly  intercourse,  the  President  and  Facul- 
ty of  the  college  bear  ample  testimony,  and  the  pos- 
session of  these  virtues  is  a  faithful  presage  of  your  hav- 
ing fulfilled  these  high  behests.  Placing  it,  however,  at 
the  head  of  the  social  duties,  and  regarding,  as  I  do,  the 
value  of  its  holy  influence  on  our  lives  and  actions,  the 
subject  cannot,  in  my  estimation,  be  too  often  pressed  upr 
on  thf  memory  of  the  young.  .     '  •      •  ■ '  . 


17. 

Tlip  oontomphition  of  tins  siiliipr.t  arises  irresistibly 
on  au  occasion  liko  the  present. 

It  is  impossible  to  look  upon  this  assembly  of  young 
men,  collected  here,  from  various  quarters  of  our  coun- 
try, to  thiuk  of  the  purpose  for  which  you  have  been  thus 
assembled,  and  the  different  circumstances  under  whicli 
you  have  come  together,  without  bestowing  a  thought  on 
those  dear  friends  you  liave  left  behind.  When  your 
condition,  young  gentlemen,  is  contrasted  with  that  of 
the  thousands  of  the  youth  around  you,  who,  chilled  by 
jienury,  or  given  up  by  parental  abandonment  to  sloth 
and  indolence,  have  never  turned  their  faces  towards  the 
goal  whither  you  are  aiming,  and  are  doomed  to  perish, 
like  tile  beasts  aroimd  them  ;  when  we  regard  yoiu"  fa- 
vored position  in  life,  the  facilities  that  have  been  here  af- 
forded you,  of  elevating  your  future  destiny,  of  identify- 
ing yourselves  with  yom*  country's  glory,  and  of  learn- 
ing the  way  to  God,  how  should  your  bosoms  burn  with 
gratitude  and  love  for  the  authors  of  such  signal  privi- 
leges. 

The  kindness  and  solicitude  of  your  parents,  present 
to  you  the  most  powerful  incentives  to  your  future  exer- 
tion. With  what  tenderness  have  they  administered  to 
your  wants  in  helpless  infancy- — with  what  patience  borne 
your  indiscretions  in  wayward  childhood — with  what 
anxiety  watched  your  steps  in  erring  youth.  No  care  has 
been  too  severe,  no  self-denial  too  painful,  no  sacrifices  too 
great  which  would  contribute  to  yoiu'  felicity.  To  you 
the  meridian  of  life  has  been  constantly  devoted ;  on  you 
their  treasures  expended.  Treasures  !  There  may  be 
some,  whose  collegiate  course  has  been  sustained  by  the 
daily  toil  of  a  parent's  own  hand  :  Aye  ;  some  perhaps 
from  the  scanty  savings  of  a  widowed  mother  !     A  mo- 


18/     ' 

llicr  cncoiiiitcnng  tlic  chilling  ills  ol"  penury,  shut  uul. 
voluntarily,  from  the  enjoyments  of  social  life ;  herself 
the  tenant  of  a  garret,  that  her  narrow  income  might 
meet  the  expenses  of  your  education  here.     For  all  this 
affection  and  kindness  and  toil,  the  only  reward  they  cx- 
l>ect,  the  only  requital  they  ask,  is,  that  when  you  enter 
upon  the  world  you  will  act  worthy  of  yourselves,  and 
not   dishonor  diem.     And  shall  this  requital  be  denied 
them  /     Will  yon,  by  your  folly  disturb  the  tranquility 
of  age,  rob  declining  life  of  its  few  remaining  pleasures, 
and  snatcli  away  from  the  hands  of  your  doting  parents 
the  last  cup  of  earthly  consolation  ?     The  chord  that  vi- 
brates from  your  generous  hearts  yields,  I  feel  assured,  the 
^  ready  res^>onse. 
•  •'    You  will  never  know,  till  the  bitterness  of  ingratitude 
shall  teach  you.  the  extent  of  your  duties  towards  them, 
nor  learn  the  depth  of  the  abiding,  unchanging  affection 
which  they  bear  towards  you.     Neither  loss  of  character, 
nor  abandoned  life,  nor  even  black  ingratitude  itself  can 
eradicate  this  feeling  from   the  parent's   bosom.     What 
beautiful  illustrations  of  this  truth  are  furnished  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures.     That  volume,  which,  in  the  language 
of  the  greatest  philosopher  and  jurist  that  ever  lived, 
contains  '-more  true  sublimity,  more  exquisite  beauty, 
more  pure  morality,  more  important  history,  and  finer 
strains  both  of  poetry  and  eloquence,  than  can  be  collected 
from  all  other  Books,  in  whatever  age  or  language  they 
may  have  been  composed."  •  ,..      / 

fjct  us  pause  and  contemplate  its  sublime  pages,  in 
the  history  of  one  of  the  Jewish  Princes. 

He  was  a  tall  and  comely  youth,   we  are  told,  and 
his  father  loved  him  exceedingly. 

Heir  of  the  throne  oi  IsraeK  reared  m  the  Inp  of  luxu-  , 


.  19. 

ry  and  case,  all  the  wishcsof  his  heart  were  indulged  with 
alacrity  hv  liis  Royal  Father,  and  his  aherrations  covered 
by  tlie  mantle  of  affection.  AV'hen  urged  by  the  direful 
spirit  of  malice  and  revenge,  he  becomes  the  murderer  of 
his  brother,  and  is  compelled  to  flee  his  country,  the  of- 
fended majesty  of  the  laws  is  made  to  yield  to  the  demands 
of  parental  tenderness,  and  the  wandering  exile  is  brought 
back  and  restored  to  his  father's  confidence  and  protection. 
Sullied  by  the  corruptions  of  his  own  heart,  and  stimula- 
ted by  wicked  counsellors  and  corrupt  associates,  this  atro- 
cious youth  advances  from  one  degree  of  enormity  to 
another,  till,  by  the  blandishments  of  flattery  and  the  se- 
ductive wiles  of  intrigue,  he  corrupts  the  fealty  of  his 
father's  subjects,  and  plots  a  deep  and  dark  conspiracy  to 
rob  him  of  his  throne  and  kingdom.  Impatient  of  the  tar- 
dy development  of  his  treason  and  reljellion,  fired  with 
tlie  lust  of  rioting  unchecked  in  the  voluptuousness  of  the 
palace,  he  approves  the  horrible  counsel  of  a  confederate, 
and  raises  his  parricidal  arm  to  imbue  it  in  his  father's 
]:)lood.  A  king,  the  greatest  monarch  of  the  earth,  vene- 
rable for  his  years  and  victories,  sacred  in  his  character, 
both  for  piety  and  prophecy,  renowned  for  prowess  and 
revered  for  wisdom,  is  reduced  to  the  condition  of  a  fu- 
gitive— to  a  sudden  and  extreme  necessity  of  flying  for  his 
life  from  the  presence  of  his  own  son  !  Witli  a  heavy  heart, 
and  a  covered  head,  and  a  weeping  eye,  and  bare  feet, 
David,  we  are  told,  went  away  from  Jerusalem ;  driven 
by  the  insurrection  of  his  own  son  from  his  house  and 
from  his  throne.  Yet  when  the  victorious  hosts  of  Israel 
were  issuing  from  their  gates,  to  rescue  their  great  leader 
from  such  unnatural  peril,  and  to  blast  the  machinations 
of  this  ruthless  Bandit,  the  illustrious  Patriarch  remem- 
bers tliat  he  is  his  son.     Rp^ardins:  him  with  unbroken 


20.  ^ 

affection,  and  apologizing  for  his  crimes  as  the  wayward 
vagaries  of  youth,  he  charges  his  captains  that  "they  deal 
gently  with  the  young  man  for  his  sake."  And  when 
arrested  in  his  traitorous  warfare  hy  the  vengeance  of  the 
Almighty,  and  suddenly  overwhelmed  in  awful  destruc- 
tion, tliis  incestuous  murderer  and  parricide  is  ibund  sus- 
pended between  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  in  token  of  his 
being  an  unfit  inhabitant  of  either  ;  and  when  the  intelli- 
gence of  his  death  is  announced  ;  instead  of  exulting  in 
his  own  rescue  and  in  his  restoration  to  his  estates  and 
crown,  the  father  is  only  overwhehncd  with  still  deeper 
affliction  in  his  bereavement  of  a  child.  Forgetting  the 
wrongs  and  insults  that  liad  been  heaped  upon  him,  re- 
gardless of  his  own  existence  and  strangled  with  grief,  in 
the  plenitude  of  a  heart  bursting  with  the  pangs  of  paren- 
tal anguish,  he  exclaims,  in  the  resistless  eloquence  of  wo  : 

"  Oh  my  son  Absalom,  my  son,  my  son  Absalom, 

"  Would  to  God  I  had  died  for  thee  ! 

'•  Oh  Absalom,  my  son,  my  son  !  !" 

The  Almighty  regards  with  favorable  eye  the  efibrts 
of  filial  duty.  The  first  promise  in  the  Decalogue  is  to 
him  that  honoreth  his  father  and  mother.  It  is  the  primal 
bond  of  society  which  the  world,  depraved  and  corrupt  as 
it  may  be,  respects  with  deferential  homage. 

Who  is  there  that  does  not  admire  the  filial  love  of 
the  great  Epaminondas,  who  declared  that  the  greatest 
pleasure  which  the  renowned  victory  of  Leuctra  had  af- 
forded him,  consisted  in  the  reflection  that  his  aged  parents 
had  lived  to  rejoice  in  his  fortune  ?  It  was  a  noble  spec- 
tacle, amidst  the  flames  that  were  consuming  Troj',  iwA 
while  the  eager  multitude  were  intent  only  on  rescuing 
their  paltry  treasure,  to  seethe  dutiful  Eneas  bearing  on 


31/ 

his  slioulder  the  venerable  Aiiehises,  his  jtged  father,  to  a 
place  of  safety. 

We  can  scarcely  contemplate  a  sublimer  spectacle 
than  that  of  a  virtuous  youth  urged  on  in  his  struggle  for 
knowledge,  not  only  by  the  love  of  science  and  by  a  sense 
of  its  importance,  but  burning  with  the  lioly  purpose  of 
making,  by  his  mental  triumphs,  a  father's  heart  beat 
with  delight,  and  a  mother's  breast  glow  with  rapture; 
sacrificing,  with  manly  energy,  the  customary  lollies  of 
his  age,  yielding  liis  soul  to  the  effort,  and,  like  a  suc- 
cessful competitor  in  a  mighty  race,  pressing  onward  to 
the  goal  of  honors,  fame,  and  wealth.  If  the  bosom  of  a 
parent  ever  burn  with  joy,  it  is  in  witnessing  the  eflbrta 
of  such  a  son. 

If  when  contemplating  the  possibility  of  his  own  pre- 
mature dismissal  from  the  M'orld,  his  soul  can  advert  with 
comfort  to  any  anchor  for  the  shattered  vessel  which  he 
leaves  behind,  it  is  v^'hen  revolving  in  the  recesses  of  his 
burdened  mind  the  prospects  and  fortunes  of  his  bereaved 
family,  he  augurs  from  the  energy,  die  decision,  the  dili- 
gence, the  character  of  a  son^  that  his  wife  and  children 
will  yet  have  one  around  wlioni  they  may  cling  with 
hope ;  one  arm  to  stay  them  in  distress  ;  one  pillar  to 
support  them  ;  one  shield  to  ward  from  them  the  perils  of 
desolate  \vidowhood  and  of  orphan  helplessness. 

Take,  then,  young  gentlemen,  a  retrospect  of  your 
past  lives  ;  and  when,  from  the  giddy  thoughtlessness  of 
youth,  your  consciences  shall  reproach  and  chide  you 
witii  neglect  and  disobedience,  hasten  to  ask  forgiveness, 
and  renew  your  vows  of  veneration  and  fidelity. 

And  be  assured,  my  dear  young  friends,  that  when 
the  progress  of  time  or  the  casualties  of  life,  or  the  inva- 
sions of  disease  shall  bring  on   that  painfid  moment  in 


^3. 

which  you  are  to  take  a  last  look  of  the  parent  who  has 
watched  and  worked  for  you,  the  remembrance  of  your 
efforts  to  gratify  him,  will  send  throu^^h  your  hearts  a 
thrill  of  satisfaction,  which  monarchs  on  a  throne  might 
envy. 


I 


t 


^> 


':■    f      ' 


^V 


9^' 


